


Santa's Grotto

by SarahShalomDavid



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-09-18 06:21:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16989669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahShalomDavid/pseuds/SarahShalomDavid
Summary: Cassidy and Caroline were supposed to go to see Santa with their father but he ends up letting them down yet again by not collecting them from school on their last day before Winter break so who does six-year-old Cassidy call?





	1. Chapter 1

Miranda was in a meeting with the board of Elias-Clark when Andrea’s cell phone began to ring. Emily glanced up discreetly but took very little notice as she continued to type out a financial report that needed to be finished that day. Andrea answered it with a bright smile and a happy hello. 

 

“Andy?”, the voice replied with a slight hint of panic in their voice. 

 

“Cass?”, the young woman questioned with a slight frown, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Dad was supposed to pick us up from school”, Cass said softly, “But he never came”. 

 

“Where are you now?”, Andrea asked her straight away as she held her phone against her ear with her shoulder and opened the cupboard door to grab hold of her coat. 

 

“We’re still at school”, Cass replied, “We’re in Mrs Jones’ office”. 

 

Knowing that the girls were both in their principal’s office made Andrea feel a lot more relaxed rather than the idea of them being out on the street on their own, “Okay”, Andrea said calmly, “Wait there and I’ll be there soon”. 

 

“But Andy”, Cass said softly, “Dad said he would take us to see Santa after school”. 

 

“Then I’ll take you”, Andrea replied simply as she scribbled a note and threw it in Emily’s direction as she rushed towards the elevator in order to get to the twins as soon as possible. 

 

_ (Give this note to M immediately)  _

 

_ Miranda,  _

 

_ I’ve gone to collect the girls, ther dad didn’t turn up. Also, he promised them Santa so I will take them to the grotto before I take them to yours. Don’t worry, I’ll look after them until you finish work.  _

 

_ Andrea.  _

 

Emily groaned slightly knowing that she would have to interrupt the meeting to hand the note to the woman but, on the other hand, she was glad that she had that duty rather than collecting the girls as she did not get on with them as well as what Andrea did. 

 

Andrea used her work cell phone in order to text Roy so that she wouldn’t have to put her personal cell down as she wanted to stay on the line with Cassidy throughout the journey. It only took a couple of floors before she got a response from Roy saying that he was outside and she was quite impressed, although it meant that he had been rather close by. 

 

Meanwhile, in the meeting, Miranda was sat rather bored whilst they went over plans that she had already decided upon. “Come in”, she softly spoke when a surprise knock came through the door. 

 

Emily cautiously opened the door and stepped inside, speaking quietly to Miranda, “Sorry to interrupt Miranda but I have this for you”, she said as she placed the folded piece of paper in front of her.

 

Miranda nodded, dismissing Emily as she unfolded the note. A small smile crept onto her face as she read the familiar handwriting. It put her at ease knowing that her two six-year-old’s were safe with her assistant rather than with their unreliable father. She was, however, rather annoyed at the fact that yet again he had failed to collect them when he was due to. It was, unfortunately for him, his last strike which meant that access would be stopped unless the girls specifically requested to see him. She knew though that the request would be one that would not come as they never did ask to see him as they had, unfortunately, gotten used to disappointment when it came to that particular moronic ape. 

 

It did not take long for Andrea to arrive at the girls’ school after she had gotten their phone call, she had told Roy what happened whilst holding the phone against her to prevent the girls from hearing her frustration surrounding their idiotic father and straight away Roy had done everything he could to get to the school as quickly as he possibly could do. 

 

“Andy!”, both girls called out as she entered the head teacher’s office, although Caroline seemed to be a little less enthusiastic than what Cassidy was. The older of the two by only seven minutes appeared to be a lot more upset by the incident than what her twin was. Cassidy was just more excited to see their mother’s assistant so that excitement overtook the disappointment that she had previously felt at her father not turning up to collect them from school or take them to Santa. 


	2. Chapter 2

Andrea smiled brightly as she wrapped her arms around Cassidy and tugged Caroline into the embrace as she knelt down to be closer to their height. 

 

Mrs Jones smiled softly as she watched the scene, she rather liked watching the young woman interact with the two girls as it was clear that they meant a lot to her and that she, in turn, meant a lot to them too. She would have asked Andrea out on a date months previously, however, the moment she had seen her with Miranda, she knew that she did not stand a chance. 

 

“I’m so sorry Mrs Jones”, Andrea said softly, “Thank you for looking out for them for me”. 

 

“No need to apologise”, the woman replied with a smile, “I know that it wasn’t your fault and both of the girls have been very well behaved”. 

 

The dark-haired assistant smiled softly and held both of twins close to her, “Are you both ready to go?”, she asked them calmly as she looked down at them. 

 

Caroline hesitated for a moment, “Can we really go to see Santa today?”, she asked quietly. 

 

Andrea nodded with a bright and happy smile, “Of course we can”, she confirmed enthusiastically. 

 

Both of the girls were suddenly smiling happily and were excitedly tugging her towards the exit of their principal’s office, “Come on!”, they were saying whilst bouncing slightly as they tried to leave. 

 

Mrs Jones smiled, “Goodbye Girls, I shall see you after the Christmas holiday”, she said politely, “I hope you enjoy your time off but don’t forget your holiday project is due in January”. 

 

“Yes, Mrs Jones”, both replied before Andrea was pulled out of the office and out towards the waiting town car. 

 

Roy was waiting by the side of the car and opened the back passenger seat car door for them as soon as he saw them approaching him. He could not help but smile as he saw their excitement and how much Andrea was smiling despite being tugged along. It was clear that the woman was enjoying being pulled along by the two girls. 

 

“Santa please, Roy”, Cassidy said with excitement as she almost bounced her way over to the town car. 

 

Roy nodded, “Of course”, he replied although he already knew exactly where he needed to take them to. 

 

Caroline and Cassidy climbed into the car although there was a slight change of positions when Andrea got in as the children decided that they wanted to be seated either side of their mother’s assistant. 

 

Their bond had started soon after the stairs prank when Andrea had not only refused to grass them up but had also took the time to sit down with them and discuss the matter. It turned out that they simply wanted to protect their mother and had no way of doing it other than to send Andrea up there so that she would interrupt their arguing. Andrea had got to the top of the stairs just as Stephen had leaned into Miranda and grabbed hold of her. 

 

It took only seconds for the woman to storm over to them and rip the man from Miranda’s side before throwing him out to ‘take a walk’. That night Andrea gave both girls her number and sat down with them for a while to talk whilst Miranda was on the phone giving orders to Emily. The following morning the locks were changed and Stephen had been evicted from the townhouse. 

 

Despite Miranda’s insistence for Andrea to tell her why she went up the stairs, Andrea continued with the same reply, which was ‘the book’. Miranda knew her girls had something to do with it and yet the younger woman refused to throw them under the bus, instead opting to take the punishment of finding the Harry Potter manuscript. 

 

Since that night, both of the girls had been at the bottom of the stairs most nights in order to talk to the assistant and they had contacted her many times using their shared cell phone in order to message her. Gradually, the amount of times they requested Andrea’s presence increased and she was being called to the townhouse for many random events. Sometimes it was as simple as helping them with their homework and other times it was things like a movie night or pizza night but there were also other things such as class trips where they needed a chaperone to attend. Andrea found herself becoming more and more involved in the school, until she was the only assistant that was on the PTA at the school. She was willing to help with anything that the girls needed and had even volunteered to be dunked as part of a school fundraiser. 

 

They spent the car ride leaning into Andrea’s sides as they spoke about their last day of term, it turned out that they had not done any actual lessons but instead they had spent the day playing games and doing christmas themed activities. 

 

Andrea listened happily to them both and quickly sent Miranda a text to let her know that she had safely collected both of the girls and that they were on their way to the grotto in order for the girls to visit ‘Santa’. She also snapped a photo of the girls and sent that to the woman. 


	3. Chapter 3

Once they had gotten out of the car, they made their way to the ticket booth in order to collect their passes which she had ordered on her cell phone on her way to go and collect the girls from school. 

 

When they approached the booth there was a man dressed as in an elf costume, his jacket was brown and he had a matching hat with white fur trim around both whilst his ears were pointed, despite being made of felt and attached to the sides of the hat, “Welcome to Santa’s Grotto!”, he announced happily as they approached him, “Would you like to buy some tickets?”. 

 

Andrea tried her best not to laugh as she replied to him, “No, thanks, I ordered them and just have to collect them”. 

 

“What is your magical ticket order number?”, the ‘elf’ questioned. 

 

Andrea opened up her cell phone and read the number on screen out to him, “90-80-77”. 

 

The ‘elf’ dramatically typed in the numbers and then pulled the tickets out from beneath the counter for the grotto and then handed them to the dark-haired woman, “Here you go! Have a great time and don’t forget to tell Santa what you want for Christmas!”. 

 

Both girls opted to observe the strange man and to stand slightly behind their mother’s assistant where they would be protected from whatever danger he may or may not pose to them. 

 

“Thank you”, Andrea said with a smile as she ushered the children away from the ticket office and towards the huge cabin that hosted the Santa’s Grotto experience. 

 

Cassidy and Caroline both looked in awe of the cabin as they looked at all of the lights that decorated it, the light up reindeer that were scattered around the area, and the sound of the Christmas music that was playing from the speakers that had been placed in the tops of the trees. It had been decorated to make it look like a winter wonderland and nearby was an outdoor ice rink with what appeared to be plastic seals that children could push around on the ice if they needed an added bit of help. 

 

Andrea smiled happily as she watched the amazement on the children’s faces, “How about we get a photo of you both in front of the grotto for your mom?”, the woman suggested. 

 

The girls smiled brightly and nodded running over to where the woman had indicated to. 

 

“That’s great girls”, Andrea said softly, “Smile”. 

 

“No, Andy”, Caroline said shaking her head, “You have to be in the photo too”. 

 

“Yeah, Andy”, Cassidy said with a matching pout. 

 

“Okay”, the woman agreed, “I’ll get in the next photo”. 

 

They looked at each other and appeared to be silently communicating before they nodded at each other and smiled, turning to Andrea, “Okay”, Caroline agreed for the both of them. 

 

Andrea took the photo of both of the girls in front of the cabin and then the girls started bouncing, “And now you too”, Cassidy insisted. 

 

“Would you like me to take the photo?”, a helpful elf asked dressed in a brown coat trimmed with white fur and a matching hat just like the one from the ticket booth had been wearing. 

 

“Yes, please?”, Caroline asked politely. 

 

Andy handed over her phone to the female elf and moved to pose beside the girls in front of the grotto. 

 

“Smile!”, the elf shouted out happily before snapping a few different photos from a few different angles. 

 

“Thank you”, Andrea said softly to the woman once she had finished and handed the phone back to her. 

 

Once the elf had gone back to entertaining the other passers-by, Andrea started to send a message to Miranda. 

 

“What are you doing?”, Caroline asked her as she tried to look over her shoulder. 

 

“Sending your photo to your mother”, Andrea explained with a smile. 

 

“Both photos?”, Cassidy asked her. 

 

“Just the one of you both”, the woman said softly. 

 

“Why not both?”, Caroline questioned. 

 

Andrea smiled, “She doesn’t need a photo of me”. 

 

“Yes she does”, the little girl replied with a slight roll of her eyes. 


	4. Entering the Grotto

A moment later, as they lined up to get into the Grotto experience, a text came through on Andrea’s cell phone. 

 

_ ‘I expect the next photo to be of ALL of you. That’s all’  _

 

Andrea laughed slightly and shook her head with amusement. 

 

“What is it?”, Cassidy asked her. 

 

“Your mother wants a photo of all of us”, Andrea said with a smile. 

 

“We did tell you so”, the eldest twin replied with a roll of her eyes. 

 

“Fine”, Andrea relented, “I’ll send the other one too”. 

 

It was only seconds after she had sent it before she got a reply from Miranda. 

 

_ ‘That’s better. Thank you’.  _

 

“What did she say?”, Cassidy asked as she stretched her neck in a way that showed she was trying to see the message after the phone had made a noise. 

 

“She said, ‘that’s better. Thank you’”, Andrea replied with a soft but unavoidable smile. 

 

“We told you so”, Caroline highlighted with a smile. 

 

Cassidy simply grinned happily as she held on to her mother’s assistant’s hand whilst Andrea internally and silently wondered why her boss would want the photo of all of them. The dark-haired woman, however, did find herself feeling rather pleased that she did want it, not that she would have admitted that in that moment despite the smile on her face. 

 

They entered the first room as they were greeted by an energetic ‘elf’ with blonde hair that was tied into two pigtails. 

 

The room looked like the inside of a wood cabin with the traditional wooden walls and basic wooden benches that stretched the length of the room with enough room for around twenty people to sit down. Around the top of the room was a garland which was wrapped with white fairy lights to give a more festive feel to the room. In one corner was a Christmas tree and below the tree was a pile of shiny wrapped gifts. The pile of gifts trailed across the front of the room in front of the projection screen. 

 

The rather energetic and enthusiastic elves encouraged everyone to put on the glasses that they had been given on the way in. They were a slightly curved shape and a bright yellow colour but they put them on anyway and started to watch the screen. The glasses enabled the three-dimensional movie to start to make more sense as it was easier to see. It was only on the introduction screen when they first put their glasses on but the children seemed rather amazed by the visual of it all. 

 

Andrea smiled happily at how much the two children seemed to enjoy the experience and she made sure to snap some photos of the little ones. It was a quiet session so there were not many other children in there with them at the time. 

 

“And you too”, Cassidy reminded the woman, prompting Andrea to hold out the phone and pull the girls closer to her in order to take a selfie of the three of them together in the first activity room. 

 

Seconds later, the movie began and Andrea soon found herself watching the Night Before Christmas with the two children as different elements of the movie appeared to shoot out towards them. The glasses and movie had been designed so that each wearer had it aimed towards them, no matter where in the room they were sat. 

 

For Andrea, however, the magical aspect of the room was watching Cassidy and Caroline watch the movie with the reflections of the fairy lights dancing in the plastic of their glasses. The little ones were amazed by the sight of the movie leaping out of the screen at them and the ‘interactive’ aspect of attempting to ‘pop’ the bubbles had them both giggling happily together. 

 

The woman was pleased that she was able to spend the time with both of the girls but found herself not understanding how their father could willingly let them down on so many occasions as it meant he missed out on so many magical moments with two precious little girls. Andrea loved every moment that she got to spend with the two of them (and she loved it even more when Miranda was with them too). 

 

She had moved to New York to become a journalist but she had found something so much more fulfilling and she found herself so much happier than she had ever thought she could be. She would, of course, love to write more but in her personal life there was only one thing that could possibly make her happier… or to be more specific… one person. One woman. One Editor-in-Chief. The one she had fallen in love with without even realising it. 

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

As the movie ended, the elves introduced them all to the board that showed their ‘elf names’ before they were led through to the second room of the Christmas Grotto experience. 

 

“Hello Everyone!”, greeted a woman who was apparently dressed as Mrs Claus, the woman was cheerful and happy as she greeted them all. There were two elves in the room as well that appeared to be almost bouncing around the room. Andrea couldn’t help but think that they may have had too much caffeine before starting work or whilst on their lunch break. She also could not help but notice that ‘Mrs Claus’ was definitely not as old as she was usually depicted as on tv or in any form of publication or imagery, the children did not seem to care though. 

 

The room, again, appeared to be the inside of a log cabin whilst wooden shelves were decorating the sides of the room and topped with toys. The sides of the room were also randomly piled with different toys including oversized pencils and pens which appeared to be made from foam. In the middle of the room there were wooden tables which had wooden troughs on the top of them. The troughs were filled with what appeared to be oats and glitter. Beside them were glue sticks, brown paper bags, and glitter pipe cleaners. 

 

Each of the children were able to make their own ‘reindeer food’ in a reindeer themed bag using the items that the experience had provided for them by the grotto elves. 

 

“Can we put our reindeer food out when we get home?”, Cassidy asked politely. 

 

Andrea smiled and shook her head, “No, you’ll have to wait for Christmas Eve and sprinkle it outside then for the reindeers otherwise the birds will steal it all before the reindeer have a chance to eat any of it”. 

 

“Oh… okay”, the youngest of the two said with a slight pout before happily continuing to create the treat bag. 

 

“Where are you going to put yours, Andy?”, Caroline asked her with curiosity, “You don’t have a garden”. 

 

“Will you put it in your garden in Ohio?”, Cassidy questioned, pausing in her task of pouring rolled oats and glitter into the brown paper bag. 

 

“Erm… no”, Andrea replied, “I won’t be going to Ohio for Christmas”. 

 

“But… what will you do?”, Caroline asked her with an element of shock. 

 

“Why aren’t you going home?”, Cassidy continued the questioning. 

 

Andrea hesitated but opted for the truth, “I fell out with my parents and it isn’t the best idea to go to Ohio so I will probably just stay home and binge-watch Christmas movies with my friends Ben and Jerry”. 

 

“You’re going to be on your own?”, Caroline gasped, the child always acted a little older than what she was.

 

“Nope, I’ll have Ben and Jerry”, Andrea joked with a slight smirk. 

 

Caroline rolled her eyes, “Doesn’t count”, she huffed before she got a look on her face that showed she was planning something, something that she probably should not be. 

 

Andrea finished off her reindeer item before encouraging the twins to continue with theirs as they had become distracted whilst whispering to each other about whatever plan they were cooking up in that moment. 

 

The room had music playing and was energetic with the elves bouncing around like hyper children. The children loved creating their reindeer food bags filled with ‘genuine reindeer food’ which, in reality, was edible glitter mixed with rolled oats. They did, however, look rather adorable in the photo that the ‘elf’ took of the three of them presenting their reindeer food bags to the camera. Andrea was in the middle with her arms around the two girls, holding them close to her as they leaned into her comfortably. 


	6. Chapter 6

When they had finished in the craft room, the three of them each had a bag of reindeer food in their own handmade reindeer bags. Andrea’s one had a white pom pom nose with blue glitter pipe cleaner antlers and a pair of googly eyes. Cassidy’s one had a white nose as well but her one had purple antlers whilst Caroline’s had a red nose and green antlers.  The children seemed rather happy with their creations, even if they were a little lopsided. 

 

Going through the next set of doors, Andrea quickly sent the next batch of photos to Miranda, purposely sending all of them as well as the one of just the two girls together. This put them into another log cabin room, this time the room had a waiting line area and it divided into two. 

 

“Would you like your photo taken in our magic sleigh?”, one of the overly-energetic elves asked the small group. 

 

“Yes!”, the two girls yelled excitedly. 

 

“Please”, Andrea added with a polite smile. 

 

“Brilliant!”, he declared with a grin, “Right this way”, he said as he indicated to the right side. 

 

They soon found themselves being led over to the right side of the room where there was a huge sleigh in the corner of the room which had been decorated in red and gold with christmas trees surrounding it. Not far in front of it was a camera that was attached to a desk with a computer behind it. Behind the desk was another elf who appeared to be just as bouncy as the others. 

 

At first Andrea encouraged the girls to get up on to the sleigh on their own but neither of the girls were smiling when they got onto the bench. Both were pouting, rather dramatically. “What’s wrong?”, Andrea asked as she knelt down beside them both. 

 

“Want you too”, Cassidy mumbled. 

 

“How about, you two have a photo of just the both of you and I promise that I’ll be in the next one with you, okay?”, the dark-haired woman suggested. 

 

Cassidy and Caroline looked at each other, pausing momentarily before returning their attention to their mother’s assistant, “Okay”, they both replied simply before turning to the camera and grinning quite happily. 

 

Andrea could not help but smile and shake her head at the antics of the two of them, she felt like her heart was blooming when she watched them. She loved them more than she had imagined when she had first met them and they had initially pranked her, however, they had quickly become a part of her heart. She could not imagine her life without them and quite frankly she did not wish to either. 

 

“Come on, Andy!”, she heard, breaking her out of her thoughts and back into reality where the twins were beckoning her to join them on the Christmas sleigh with them for the next photo. 

 

Andrea grinned and climbed up onto the sleigh in order to sit with them, it did not take the children long before they were both clambering up into her lap. She wrapped her arms around the both of them and held them both close to her as the ‘elf’ snapped the photos of the three of them together. The only thing that Andrea wished for in that moment was a certain woman to be with them, to have Miranda’s arms around her would be perfection to her. 

 

After the photos, Andrea noticed that there was an animatronics reindeer in the corner that appeared to be coming out of a small hut, “Would you like to meet the reindeer and have your photo taken?”. 

 

Caroline watched it nervously whilst Cassidy bounced excitedly, “Yes!”. 

 

Andrea led them over to the reindeer, keeping a close eye on Caroline who appeared to be rather nervous about the idea of the creature. 

 

When they reached the fake animal, an elf encouraged Cassidy to press the button that was stood in front of the animal. 

 

The moment that the blue plastic button was pressed though, two things happened. One, it started to talk, and two, Caroline almost screeched as she threw herself at Andrea whilst almost climbing up the woman. Andrea had no choice but to grab hold of the little girl and hold her close, “Shhh…. It’s okay”, she said calmly as she rocked the eldest twin in her arms. 

 

Cassidy had jumped back a little but she seemed to be rather amused by the animal, although she did not step back as closely as she had been previously. 

 

“Would you like a photo with Reggie the reindeer?”, an elf asked from beside them. 

 

Caroline had her face hidden in Andrea’s neck as she watched the animal through her dark locks and Cassidy looked up at her sister before she answered. The youngest twin shook her head, “No”. 

 

“That’s perfectly fine”, the female elf answered as she smiled, “Would you like to go and see Santa?”. 

 

“Yes please!”, the girls cheered enthusiastically in response. 

 

Andrea smiled happily as she followed the ‘elf’ over to the red curtain in order to wait to be led into the next section. Whilst she waited she messaged Miranda with the photos from the Reindeer. The photos from the sleigh would have to wait until the end as she didn’t have those on her phone. 


	7. Chapter 7

“Are you ready?”, another elf questioned the two girls happily. 

 

Cassidy and Caroline nodded, the latter from her position in Andrea’s arms, as music played a cheerful seasonal tune and elves bounced around the room like bouncy balls or hyper children. 

 

“Do you know what you’re going to ask Santa for Christmas?”, the dark-haired elf asked them. 

 

Both girls looked at each other before they nodded to the girl, confirming that they did know what they were going to ask for for Christmas from the red-suited man. 

 

As they were led into the room, Andrea carried Caroline comfortably, she rather liked the feeling of the girl in her arms and Caroline seemed to simply love the woman’s hugs. 

 

They went through a red curtain, and then through a second one before they came to a smaller wooden cabin room. There was a fireplace to the left of the room where there was some toys and presents scattered around near it, in front of the fireplace was a small bench and a rug whilst beside it was a large throne chair. In the chair was a large man with a white beard and a red suit. To the right side of the room was another elf with a camera mounted to a shelf along with a computer screen beside it. The room was lit up with the glittering of fairy lights that lit up along the top of the room just like the first room had. 

 

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”, the man said enthusiastically, “Come on in and take a seat”. 

 

Despite the excitement that the two had felt in the lead up to going to see Santa, both of the girls were hiding against Andrea as he spoke calmly to them both. 

 

“Would you like to come and sit near me?”, he asked them, “I would love to know what you would like for Christmas this year”. 

 

Andrea knelt down, whispering encouragement to both of the girls. 

 

After getting both of them to be standing on the ground, rather than in her arms like Caroline had been, Cassidy tugged at Andrea’s hand, tugging her towards the bench that had been positioned next to Santa. 

 

“How about your grown up sit with you?”, the elf suggested. 

 

“She’s our Andy”, Caroline said softly in response. 

 

“Oh, okay”, the elf replied, “Would you like her to sit with you?”. 

 

Caroline and Cassidy nodded, before the latter whispered to the elf, “She’s like an extra mom”. 

 

The elf smiled brightly at that, “That’s great”. 

 

When Andrea had sat down on the bench, then, and only then, were the two girls willing to climb up onto the bench in order to pose for the photos. 

 

They took a few different photos together and then Andrea managed to convince the two girls to sit on the bench on their own for a photo. One photo only, according to the rules set down by the two precocious children. 

 

“Now, would you both like a present each?”, Santa asked. 

 

The two of them looked up at Andrea, waiting for her nod to indicate that it was safe before they enthusiastically agreed after having relaxed a little since entering the smaller room. 

 

Both Caroline and Cassidy’s faces lit up when they saw stuffed reindeers being plucked from the large santa sack that sat beside the man, however, neither of the girls wanted to step close enough in order to get the stuffed toys from the man. Andrea tried not to laugh at the feeling of both of the girls nudging her towards the strange man. The man who was playing the role of Santa did, however, seem to understand and opted to simply give the two toys to the dark-haired woman instead of the children. 

 

Andrea stepped back with both toys and knelt down before giving the toys to them both. In the way that they both squeezed and hugged the toys tightly showed how much they loved them. 


	8. Chapter 8

When they left ‘Santa’s’ room, they had to go through a red curtain that was held open by the elf that had taken their photo, they then walked down a short hallway which had been created by another curtain. As they got to the end of the little hallway, the room opened up into another log cabin room. The top of the room was trimmed with fairy lights and to the right was an open door that led back outside whilst to the left was a long desk which had three tills on it with four people behind the desk. Three of them were at the tills and the fourth was at the end making up various photo items for the small amount of customers that were at the desk waiting for them. 

 

“Good afternoon”, a woman greeted them, the one who was at the end making items, “If you go down to the end till then you’ll be able to see your photos on the screen”. 

 

“Thank you”, Andrea said softly as she walked down to the till that the woman had indicated to. 

 

Both Caroline and Cassidy followed her down to it as they held onto her hands whilst they walked. 

 

“Good Afternoon”, the man behind the till greeted them politely with a smile, “Do you have your photo card with you?”. 

 

Andrea nodded, “Right here” she said as she offered the small white card to him, the card had a QR code on it along with some black text which included a website. The card contained all of the photos that they had taken on the sleigh and with Santa in the grotto by the various elves. 

 

The man behind the counter took the card from her and scanned it so that the photos appeared on the screen that was facing them.

 

“You have four photos”, the man explained, “Two on the sleigh and two with Santa”. 

 

The girls were rather excited to see the photos and were almost bouncing around, “Can we get them?”, Caroline asked politely.

 

“Of course”, Andrea replied enthusiastically with a huge smile. 

 

“How would you like them printed?”, he asked. “All of the prices are listed up here”, he said indicating to the large sign on the wall behind him, “And the examples are on the counter”. 

 

“Can I have one of these, please?”, Cassidy asked softly as she picked up a glitter frame with a photo inside of it, as she moved it the glitter moved around almost like a snow globe effect. 

 

“Sure, which photo would you like inside of it?”, Andrea asked her. 

 

“Erm...that one”, Cassidy said indicating to the one of all three of them with Santa. 

 

“Do you not want the one of just you and Caro?”, Andrea asked softly. 

 

Cassidy shook her head, “No, it has to have all three of us in it so it can go on my bedside table”. 

 

Andrea smiled and nodded, “Okay”, she replied before looking at Caroline, “Would you like one as well? Or would you rather have something else?”. 

 

“Can I have one as well?”, Caroline asked, “But with the three of us on the sleigh instead?”. 

 

Andrea nodded, “Of course”, she answered with a smile before looking up at the man, “Two glitter frames please, one with the photo number ending 140 and one with photo ending with 947”. “I’ll also have a package C with the snow globe, bauble, and photo print for each of the photos but can I have it so that the snow globes are doubled up? So switching the photos to have 140 and 947 on the same one, twice. Then the same for 139 and 946 with just the girls?”, she asked with a smile, “Also the same switch for the baubles?. 

 

“Of course”, he said as he tapped on his computer screen to put the order through.

 

“That’s a lot of photos”, Caroline commented. 

 

“That way your mother can have two globes with all four photos, and two baubles with all four photos”, Andrea explained, “And it means that I can have the same too”. 

 

“Oh, and can I also have a package A with the two prints or 140 and 947 together and another package A for 139 and 946”, Andrea requested with a smile before looking at the girls, “That way I have prints of each of them as well”. 

 

“Would you like to add the download link for an extra dollar?”, the man asked her when he had finished putting the order through the computer system. 

 

Andrea nodded, “Please”. 

 

“Anything else for you today?”, he asked politely.

 

“I’ll have a fridge magnet of number 140 and a keyring of the same please”, she asked, “Also a keyring of number 139, actually two of 139”. 

 

“Of course”, he said typing it into the computer. 

 

“Would you like a book?”, she asked as she directed her question to the girls, “It’s the story you watched in the movie room”. 

 

“Yes, please”, they both replied. 

 

“Four books please”, Andrea said with a smile to the man. 

 

“Four?!”, Caroline questioned in surprise. 

 

“One each for the two of you, one for my nephew, and one for Serena’s son”, their mother’s assistant replied. 

 

“Ohhh, okay”, the eldest twin replied with a smile. 

 

“Did you want a keyring for your school bags?”, Andrea asked them as she knew that they loved the ones that she had purchased on their day out to a theme park previously. 

 

The girls nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, please!”. 

 

“Two more keyrings please”, Andrea said before asking the girls, “Which photos would you like?”. 

 

“The sleigh of all of us”, Caroline replied. 

 

“Erm.. me too”, Cassidy said. 

 

“If you get two different photos then we can switch them and you’ll get both photos in each of the keyrings”, the man explained politely. 

 

Cassidy and Caroline looked at each other before nodding and agreeing to what he had said. 

 

“Okay, so four books is 20$”, the man stated, “Then you have two glitter frames which is another 22$, four package Cs which is 80$, two package As is 24$, fridge magnet which is 8$, and the five keyrings which is 40$”. “That is 194$ in total please”, he asked her. 

 

Andrea got out the card that Miranda had given her, the woman had been insistent that the card be used for any trips that they took, “I’ll pay for the books separately though with cash if that’s okay?”, she asked him. 

 

“Of course”, he replied with a nod as he started to put the payment through and all of the items started to print. As they were printing then he was handing the items down the counter to the woman who was ready to make up the items for them. 


	9. Chapter 9

Miranda had been loving the photos that her assistant had been sending her and was looking forward to seeing more. As she sat at her desk looking at the latest photos, she had an idea. “Emily”, she called out softly, barely waiting for the young woman to rush to her before making her demands, “Get me Santa on the phone”. 

 

The woman looked rather confused, “You mean…”. 

 

She did not get to finish her sentence before the white-haired fashion Queen interrupted with a wave of her hand, “Bore someone else with your questions”. 

 

Her assistant nodded and ducked out of the room quickly, opting to go with her instinct and call up Roy to find out which Grotto he had taken them too. She then called the Grotto to get the ‘Santa’ on the phone. She spoke to a rather kind woman called ‘Libby’ who seemed to be the manager at the Grotto and she was rather quick at finding out which of the five Santas had been the one that the twins visited that afternoon. 

 

“I have Santa”, the redheaded assistant called out whilst covering the microphone part of the phone with her hand before shaking her head and mumbling, “I never thought I’d say that…”. 

 

Meanwhile, inside Miranda’s office, the Editor-in-Chief picked up her phone, “I’m calling as I would like to find out what my girls have requested for Christmas”. 

 

“Of course”, the man replied, “Both girls asked for the same things”. “The first thing that they asked for was to see the ‘Cursed Child’ play in London, the second thing was an XBox One with games, and the third thing was…”, he paused momentarily. 

 

“And the third?”, she prompted with slight impatience. 

 

“The third was a little more… difficult”, he commented before answering the question, “They want their Andy to be their second mother… for real”. 

 

“Oh…”, Miranda commented without meaning to, but when she caught herself she asked, “And what did Andrea ask for?”. 

 

“Well, she seemed reluctant to ask for anything at all but the girls were rather insistent upon the idea”, he explained, “She even tried to explain that she wasn’t sure I could help get her what she wanted for Christmas”. “The girls insisted, however, that I would be able to get her anything she wanted in the entire world”, he continued, “So she told me, or rather, she whispered to me and told me that what she wanted was… well… you”. 

 

“Me?”, Miranda questioned instantly. 

 

“Yes, you”, he confirmed confidently. 

 

“Are you sure of this?”, the woman asked rather sceptically. 

 

He nodded, despite being unable to be seen through the phone line, “I am as sure as can be”, he answered. 

 

“Thank you”, she whispered before putting the phone down. 

 

‘Santa’ was smiling when he put the phone down on his end, he had been warned by his boss to be on his best behaviour and that it was a very important customer but he did not exactly follow fashion so he did not, in reality, know very much about the woman and nor did he know how rare those whispered two words actually were. He did know, however, that wishes were very likely to come true that year. 


	10. Chapter 10

When Miranda returned to her townhouse she was greeted with the scent of dinner cooking and the sound of her children’s laughter flowing through the house. As she walked through her home and towards the sounds that she could hear coming from the kitchen, she was met with the sight of Andrea dancing at the stove as she cooked whilst the twins were at the breakfast bar laughing at the woman’s movements. 

 

Miranda found herself leaning against the door frame with a smile on her face as she watched the three of them in the kitchen. 

 

“Miranda”, Andrea gasped in surprise as she turned around to look at the girls and noticed the white-haired woman leaning so casually in the doorway, usually she could sense her boss’ arrival but this time she had been rather distracted. 

 

“Andrea”, Miranda replied softly with a smile, “What are you cooking?”. 

 

“I… thought we should make some dinner”, Andrea explained, “We decided on chicken stew”. 

 

“It’s Andy’s Grandma’s secret recipe”, Caroline announced. 

 

“Oh, really?”, Miranda asked with a smile as she stepped closer, “In that case, I think I may have to steal some”. 

 

“No need”, Andrea said softly, “There’s enough for all of us and enough for extra too”. “I remembered how much you liked it last time I made it”, she continued. 

 

Miranda nodded with a smile, “Did you enjoy your visit to see Santa, Bobbseys?”, she asked the girls as she stepped up behind them before kissing each of them on the head. 

 

“Yes!”, came the joined response of both of the twin girls as they bounced slightly on the stools that they were sat on with huge grins on their faces. 

 

It did not take them long before both girls were telling Miranda everything that had happened at the Grotto that afternoon, “...and we got to tell Santa what we want… would like”, she corrected herself, “for Christmas!”, Caroline revealed with pure excitement. 

 

“And Andy did too!”, Cassidy added. 

 

“Oh?”, Miranda said softly as if she did not already know, “And what did you all ask for?”. 

 

“Xbox One and to see the cursed child in London”, Caroline answered with a huge smile.

 

“And…”, Cassidy stopped at the look on her twin sister’s face. 

 

“That’s all”, Caroline whispered quickly. 

 

“Was there something else?”, Miranda asked as she watched her girls closely. 

 

“We’ll tell you if it comes true”, Caroline answered cryptically. 

 

Miranda nodded, “Well, maybe if you tell me then I could help Santa make it come true?”. 

 

The girls looked at each other and then back at their mother but did not answer her. 

 

The Editor-in-Chief nodded and turned her attention to her assistant who was finishing off the dinner at the stove, “And you? Andrea? What did you ask for from Santa?”. 

 

“Oh.. .erm.. It doesn’t matter”, Andrea replied quickly before she distracted herself pulling bowls out from the cupboard. 

 

“It does matter!”, Cassidy declared almost instantly, rather shocked that the woman would dismiss it so quickly. 

 

“It does”, Caroline added, “What did you want for Christmas, Andy?”. 

 

“I...erm”, Andrea blushed slightly, “How about I’ll tell you if it comes true too?”. 

 

The girls deflated slightly at the fact that the woman had used their technique to avoid the question as they really wanted to know, “But if you tell Mom she might be able to help Santa make it come true”, Caroline informed the dark-haired woman, repeating what their mother had told them. 

 

“That’s okay girls”, Miranda reassured them both as she wrapped her arms around the two of them, “I happen to have already spoken to Santa and he has already informed me of what you all asked for”. 

 

“You.. did?”, Caroline questioned with wide eyes. 

 

“I did”, Miranda confirmed with a reassuring smile. 

 

“And… we’re not in trouble?”, the eldest twin questioned. 

 

Miranda shook her head, “Most definitely not”. 

 

Andrea looked a little nervous but attempted to cover it by dishing up the dinner into the bowls that she had pulled from the cupboard and then moving them over to the breakfast bar where they would be eating. The girls had already ‘buttered’ the bread for the stew and that was sat in (rather messy) cut triangles on a large plate in the middle. 

 

They sat quite happily eating their stew, although, Andrea was rather nervous. 

 

Later that evening, as Miranda was tucking the girls into bed, Caroline asked her, “Mommy? Will you help Santa make our wish come true?”, she watched her mother as she spoke, “The one about our Andy?”. 

 

Miranda smiled softly as she cupped her daughter’s cheek, “I will do my very best”, she whispered, “I promise”. 

 

“Really?”, Cassidy questioned as she had decided to jump in with her slightly older sister for their bedtime story. 

 

“Really”, Miranda confirmed. 

 

When Miranda had finished tucking the girls in for the night, she made her way back down towards the den where she knew that Andrea was waiting for her. Andrea, however, was clearly more worried than what Miranda had initially thought. The woman was pacing side to side in the den as she fidgeted slightly with her hands. 

 

“Andrea”, the woman called out softly as she approached her, “Andrea? It’s okay”, she said as she stopped in front of her and put her hands gently on either side of the younger woman’s arms. 

 

“It’s not... I..”, Andrea started to stumble over her words, “I messed up... I shouldn’t have.. I…”. 

 

Miranda was about to argue with her and point out how wrong she was but instead, she opted to show her instead and so she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Andrea’s. Instantly, silencing her in a very effective manner. 

 

Once Andrea had been silenced, Miranda pulled back slightly but continued to hold her assistant in her arms, “No, you didn’t mess up”, she whispered softly before cupping her cheek, “You most definitely did not”. 

 

“But... I.. you…”, Andrea stuttered. 

 

Miranda smiled brightly at the woman, “I was told that it was me that you wanted for Christmas”, she revealed, “Although, I do hope that you intend to keep me for more than just the Christmas period”. 

 

“Forever”, Andrea replied, “Always and forever”, she reaffirmed before she leaned in and kissed the woman much more passionately than she had done before. 

 

Miranda smiled brightly, she had not only granted Andrea’s Christmas wish and one of her daughters’ wishes but also her own. 


End file.
